Reasonable goals for inches lost

cbnorris

Hello everyone. I bought a fitbook (essentially a weight loss planner) and I'm trying to set some goals for myself for a 12 week period. My weight loss goal is 18 lbs, which I feel is attainable yet challenging, but I have no clue what some realistic goals are for inches lost. Perhaps someone who started close to my size can help?

Current weight 193, height 5'3"
waist 44
chest 41 (i'm measuring underneath my bust, is this the correct way to do it?)
hips 40
left upper arm 10.5
left thigh 20.5

Damien_Scott

I don't have exact measurements, but my g/f started at about 195 5'3''and has lost 17 lbs in two months eating around 1200-1400 calories/day. She has went down 4-6 belt loops on her old belt. Not sure if this helps you much. She went from a man's large back to a medium in that time. She can wear some women's mediums depending on the shirt. she's also back into her size 14 pants and they are looser than before. she thinks she could wear 12-13s.

jemhh

I would be very hesitant to set a time-based inches lost (or even pounds lost) goal. Especially if you don't have trend data indicating where you've lost inches in the past. Inches don't decrease proportionally all over your body. You may very well lose 2" from your waist and 1/8" from your thigh. Or you might lose 1/8" from your waist and 2 inches from your thigh.

wkwebby

For your beginning stages of weight loss, don't worry about the inches. When your closer to goal weight, then start taking your measurements as more of a gauge (and throw out the scale). Everyone will lose inches differently so if anyone gives you their inches lost and where, it could be COMPLETELY different than yours because it is more genetic.

Stick with the scale for now. Once you get into your weight loss groove, take your measurements regularly. As long as one of the two is going down (either the scale or the inches), you are making progress. If they go up, than you have to tweak something. Good luck!

michelle7673

The underbust measurement is its own measurement, but a "bust" measurement is at the widest point. I would take both.
I would say take the measurements, but as far as "goals" -- that's trickier because you could lose more in one area than another. There's no harm in setting yourself a goal of losing 2 inches in your waist and seeing what happens, but what I think is really helpful is that (a) you might see more progress with inches at some times, which will help during those times that the scale doesn't move, and (b) you will get a baseline for the NEXT twelve weeks

lorrpb

Good for you for setting goals & tracking. Tracking is one of the keys to success. It's Also hard to put time frame on these things especially when staring out because we dont know how our body will respond. I agree it's ok to set a time goal but be open if it does not happen that way. This is especially hard for inches. I've been at this 15 mo. I have pounds goals -- that dont always go as planned--but I still don't don't know how to set inches goals either for mini goals or for my end goal. Nonetheless I've lost 105 pounds and 55 inches so far!

cbnorris

Thanks for the advice everyone! I love using MFP to keep track of everything, but I'm such a paper person. It's just more satisfying when you get to check or cross off something!

hekla90

Tracking inches can be tricky. I've never set a specific goal but I do know that when I dropped 11 lbs I went from a 26 inch waist to a 23 inch waist which I never would expected from such a small loss. I was aiming for a 25 inch waist. I would set a weight loss goal first and see how things go so you can see how weight and inches start coming off.